Rep: Alex Oliveira still awaiting response to appeal request for UFC 207 no-contest

In late January, welterweight Alex Oliveira appealed his no-contest at UFC 207. He’s still waiting to hear back.

Oliveira’s representative, Alex Davis, said he’s followed up with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the Dec. 30 pay-per-view event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. But he hasn’t heard back one month after Oliveira’s bout with Tim Means was declared a no-contest.

NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett declined to comment on the matter and didn’t respond to a follow-up asking whether he’d received the appeal, sent Jan. 31 by Davis.

“Will be happy to advise you about the appeal in the future,” he wrote in an email. “Thank you for your interest and have a great day.”

Oliveira’s (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) bout with Means (26-7-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) came to an end at the 3:33 mark after Means hit a downed Oliveira with a blatantly illegal knee to the head, which left Oliveira unable to continue.

But the bout was ruled a no-contest rather than a disqualification, which is usually the case when an intentional foul delivered prior to the completion of the second round renders a fighter incapable of continuing.

Means admitted he intentionally used the knees and incorrectly believed they were legal under a new version of the Unified Rules approved this past year. In fact, Oliveira’s knee was on the mat, making his head an illegal target.

Davis previously told MMAjunkie that referee Dan Miragliotta was prematurely stopped from reviewing the fight-ending sequence on instant replay. He now wants the bout’s result overturned to a win for Oliveira via disqualification.

Per NSAC rules, the referee is the sole arbiter of the fight, and the commission can only change the result in the case of error, collusion, or the misapplication of the rules.

Davis welcomed a rematch with Means, who has yet to be booked since the botched fight.

Below is Davis’ full appeal:

Jan 31, 2017

Dear Bob Bennett,

I would like to ask the NSAC to review the result of the fight between Alex “ Cowboy” Oliveira and Tim Means that happened on Dec 30 of 2016 at the UFC 207 in Las Vegas. The fight was called a No Contest. From our perspective this is in error. The fight was stopped due to illegal knees to a downed opponent, in this case Tim Means on Alex Oliveira. These were intentional, as Tim himself admitted publicly in various interviews. In this case, and according to our understanding of the rules, Tim should have been disqualified, and the win should have been awarded to Alex Oliveira. Alex and I hope that the NSAC will agree to our perspective, and act to correct. We believe that these rules are in place for everyone to obey and follow, in the name of safety and fairness in our sport.

Sincerely,

Alex Davis

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